Edwards Betty. The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain

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physicist and mathematician Isaac Newton and the German poet

and scholar Johann Goethe.

What is the purpose of constructing a color wheel? Simply

put, to set in your mind the structure of color. The three primary

hues—yellow, red, and blue—are the basic building blocks of

color. Theoretically, all other colors are derived from these three.

Next come the three secondary hues—orange, violet, and

green—born of primary parents. And then follows the third gen-

eration, the six tertiary (third-level) hues—yellow-orange, red-

orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, and yellow-green.

The color wheel has a total of twelve hues, arranged like the

numbers on the face of a clock.

Use your colored pencils to match the color wheel (Figure 11-

3) in the color section. You can trace the pattern in Figure 11-1

onto a piece of bond paper, or you can color directly on the pat-

tern in the book. Bear down hard with your colored pencils to

produce the most intense hues possible.

"Hues which approach red have

almost universally been considered

as warm colors and those which

tend toward blue as cool. Fire and

sunlight and the glow of brisk cir-

culation of blood are all associated

with warmth.

"The colors of the sky and distant

mountains and cool waters are

generally bluish. When the body is

chilled its color tends toward a

bluish hue. These reasons natu-

rally make us associate red,

orange, and yellow with warmth,

and blue, blue-green, and blue-

violet with coolness."

— Walter Sargeant

The Enjoyment and Use of

Color, 1923

DRAWING ON THE BEAUTY OF COLOR

235

Psychologist Guy T. Buswell, in his

1935 study, How People Look at Pic-

tures, noted that although initial

fixation tends to be roughly in the

center of a painting, the eye gener-

ally moves first to the left and then

to the right. Dr. Buswell speculated

that this is a carry-over from read-

ing.

Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky

agreed with Buswell about center-

to-left-to-right scanning, but dis-

agreed about the reason.

Kandinsky's explanation:

"The picture is facing us, therefore

its sides are reversed. Just as when

we meet someone, we shake their

right hand—which is on the left as

we face each other."

Kandinsky continued: "The left

side of an image is dominant,

therefore, just as our right hand is

(usually) the leading or strongest

hand."

— W. Kandinsky

Point and Line to Plane,

1945

Those of you familiar with color wheels will notice that I

have used the usual order for colors on the wheel: yellow at the

top, violet at the bottom; the cool colors of green, blue-green,

blue, and blue-violet on the right side; the warm hues of yellow,

yellow-orange, orange, red-orange, and red on the left (see Fig-

ure 11-2).

I believe that this is the correct placement in terms of the

complicated crossover system of the brain, the visual system, and

the language of art. The left side of an image is addressed by the

(usually) dominant right eye, which is controlled by the left

hemisphere (stay with me; it is complicated!). In the language of

art, the left side of an image carries the connotations of domi-

nance, aggression, and forward movement. The right side,

scanned after the left side, is addressed by the left eye, controlled

by the right brain. The right side of an image, in the language of

art, carries the connotations of passivity, defensiveness, and

blocked movement.

In this zigzag fashion, the left hemisphere, right eye, and the

left side of the color wheel are linked to the sun, daylight, and

warmth—and also to dominance, aggression, and forward move-

ment. Conversely, the right hemisphere, left eye, and right side of

the wheel are linked to the moon, nighttime, and coolness—and

thus also to passivity, defensiveness, and distance. Most color

wheels are oriented in this fashion, apparently purely on intu-

ition. Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky, one of the great colorists

of art history, put his intuitions into words in the margin quota-

tion.

The purpose, then, of constructing the color wheel is to set in

your mind which colors are opposite each other on the wheel.

Blue is opposite orange, red is opposite green, yellow-green is

opposite red-violet. These opposites are called complements.

The root of the word "complement" is "complete." This means

that complements form the closed system previously, proposed by

Dr. Peter Smith as a requirement for an esthetic response. Per-

ceived together in proper relationship, complements seem to sat-

isfy the needs of R-mode and the visual system for completion.

You can use your color wheel to practice determining which

236

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

hues are complements. This knowledge should be learned so

thoroughly that it becomes as automatic as 2 + 2 = 4.

Taking the first steps in color drawing

Before you begin, please read all of the instructions.

I will use the Degas drawing on pink paper (Figure 11-6) as

the basis for instructions, but please choose any subject that

appeals to you: a group of objects for a still-life drawing, a person

who will pose for a figure drawing or a portrait, another repro-

duction of a master drawing, a photograph that appeals to you, or

a self-portrait (the artist always has one available model!).

1. Choose a sheet of colored paper, not necessarily pink.

2. The original Degas drawing measures 16+1/8" x 11+1/4". Measure

and lightly draw with pencil a format of that size.

3. Choose two colored pencils, one dark and one light, in colors

you feel harmonize with the color of your paper.

Some suggestions on this point: If your paper is soft blue,

for example, choose pencils of the opposite (that is, the com-

plementary) hue—in this case, orange. Your choice, then,

could be flesh (pale orange) and dark brown (which is actually

a dark orange). If your paper is soft violet, your choices could

be cream (pale yellow) and dark purple (or burnt umber,

which has a slightly violet cast). Degas used "soft black

graphite" (which has a slightly greenish cast) for his dark

tones, which he accented with black crayon, and a cool white

to complement his (warm) pink paper.

An aside

An important point: have confidence in your color choices!

Guided by some basic L-mode knowledge of the structure of

color (for example, the use of complements), your R-mode will

know when color is right. Within the guidelines, follow your intu-

ition. Try out the hues on the back of the paper. Then say to

yourself, "Does that feel right?" and listen to what you feel. Don't

argue with yourself—I should say, with your L-mode. We have

limited your choices to three: the paper and two pencils. Given

The brain's "need" for the comple-

ment is most clearly demonstrated

by the phenomenon called "after-

image," which is still not entirely

understood.

To cause an after-image, color a

circle of intense red about an inch

or so in diameter. Make a tiny

black dot in the center of the red.

Make a similar dot in the center of

a second, blank sheet of paper.

Holding the two sheets side-by-

side, gaze at the red-hued circle

for about a minute. Then quickly

shift your gaze to the dot on the

second, blank sheet. You will "see"

the complement to red (green)

emerge on the blank paper the

same shape, the same size as the

original red circle.

You can experiment with any hue,

and your mind/brain/visual sys-

tem will produce the exact com-

plement of any hue. This is termed

the negative after-image. If you

experiment with two hues, both

complements will appear. In some

instances, the original hue (called a

positive after-image) will appear as

an after-image, but in the negative

spaces of the original shapes,

which appear empty of color.

DRAWING ON THE BEAUTY OF COLOR

237

"Color can overwhelm.... One

must understand that when it

comes to color less is often more—

a lesson taught us by the masters

but ignored by many artists."

—Joe Singer

Hovi to Paint in Pastels, 1976

In his 1926 work, the color theorist

Albert Munsell stressed the con-

cept of balance to create color har-

monies and established a

numerical code which is still the

most widely used system for iden-

tifying color.

Munsell recommended balancing

hues with their complements, val-

ues with their opposite values,

intensities with opposite intensi-

ties, areas of strong color balanced

by weak (low-intensity) color, large

areas balanced by small, warm col-

ors balanced by cool colors.

— Albert Munsell

A Color Notation

these limits, you are sure to produce harmonious color.

Bear in mind that color most often "goes wrong" when stu-

dents without knowledge of color use too many hues. They often

throw together a variety of hues, chosen at random from the color

wheel. Such combinations are difficult—often impossible—to

balance and unify, and even beginning students sense that some-

thing isn't working. This is the reason for limiting the palette in

these first exercises to a few hues and their related lights and

darks. And I encourage you to continue to limit your palette until

you have wider experience with color.

Having said that, I will reverse the thought and suggest that at

some point, you may want to go wild with color, throwing every-

thing together to see what happens. Buy a sheet of brightly col-

ored paper and use every color you have on it. Create discordant

color. Then try to pull it together, perhaps with dark or dull col-

ors. You may be able to make it work—or you may like it in its

discordant state! Much of contemporary art uses discordant color

in very inventive ways. Let me emphasize, however, that you

should attempt discordant color by design and not by mistake.

Your R-mode will always perceive the difference, perhaps not

immediately, but over a period of time. Ugly color is not the same

as discordant color. Discordant color is not the same as harmo-

nious color. For these first exercises, we shall concentrate on cre-

ating harmonious color, because it more readily provides basic

knowledge about color.

Now, to continue:

4. Notice that Degas gridded his drawing with evenly spaced

horizontal and vertical guide lines, just as he gridded his

dancer without color on page 157. A grid with squares about

2+1/2" will be about right for the size of your format.

Try to follow Degas's thinking in his use of the grid: What

points was he looking for? Note the obvious points of crossed

grid lines at the elbow and at the dancer's right toe.

Start with the grid, using your dark-colored pencil to

lightly draw the lines. Call up your new skills of drawing:

edges, spaces, relationships of angles and proportions, and

238

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

light logic. Use the grid as a boundary for the negative spaces

around the head, arms, hands, and feet. Use negative space to

draw the ballet shoes. Carefully work out the proportions of

the head: Check the eye level and the central axis. Notice

what a small proportion of the whole head is occupied by the

features; do not enlarge these features! Check the position of

the ear (review proportions in Chapter Eight, if necessary).

Complete the "dark" drawing before starting on the "light."

5. Now, for the fun part—the heightening of the drawing.

Heightening is the technical term that refers to the technique

of using pale-colored chalk or pencil to depict light falling on

a subject.

First, determine the logic of the light falling on the

dancer. Where is the source of the light? As you can see, this

light source is located just above the dancer and slightly off to

her left. Light falls on her forehead and right cheek. Her head

throws a shadow on her right shoulder, and the light streams

across her left shoulder and falls on her chest and left breast.

Bits of light fall on her left toe and right heel as well.

Now use your light-colored pencil to heighten the draw-

ing. You may need to alternately use your dark pencil to

deepen the shadow-shapes. Grasp with your mind that the

middle tones are supplied by the value of the colored paper.

Try to see the color of the paper as value. This is difficult.

Imagine for a moment that the world has turned to shades of

gray, as though twilight has fallen, draining color from your

paper but leaving the value in the form of a gray. Where on a

value scale would that gray be, relative to white and black?

Then, relative to that value, where is the darkest dark in

Degas's drawing? Where is the lightest light? Your task is to

match these values in your drawing.

When you have finished: Pin your drawing to a wall, stand

back, and enjoy your first small step into color. Some student

drawings using colored pencil are shown in the color section. As

you see, very few colors were used in each of the drawings. Stu-

dent Thu Ha Huyung used the largest number of colors (four

plus black and white) in her Girl in a Flowered Hat (Figure 11-22).

"To me, painting—all painting—

is not so much the intelligent use

of color as the intelligent use of

value. If the values are right the

color cannot help but be right."

—Joe Singer

How to Paint in Pastels, 1976

Based on his teaching at Yale

University, the great colorist Josef

Albers wrote that there are no

rules of color harmony, only rules

of relationships of quantity of colors:

"Independent of harmony rules,

any color 'goes' or 'works' with any

other color, presupposing that

their quantities are appropriate."

—Josef Albers

The Interaction of Color,

1962

Another view on harmony in color:

"After learning to see color as value,

the next step is learning to see

color as color."

— Professor Don Dame

California State

University, Long Beach

DRAWING ON THE BEAUTY OF COLOR

A Heightened Self-Portrait

A wonderful example for this exer-

cise is found in Figure 11-7, the self-

portrait by the German artist

Kathe Kollwitz.

Exercise:

1. Set up lights and a mirror.

Arrange your drawing materials so

that you can both draw and

observe yourself.

2. Take the pose and spend a few

moments studying the logic of the

lights and shadows created by your

lighting setup. Where is the light-

est light? The darkest dark? Where

are the cast shadows and the crest

shadows? Where are the highlights

and the reflected lights?

3. Lightly sketch your self-por-

trait on colored paper, checking

the proportions carefully.

4. Quickly paint in the negative

space, using black ink thinned

slightly with water and a fairly

large brush (a one-inch-wide

housepainter's brush will do, with

ink poured in a small bowl).

5. Use a dark colored pencil to

define features and shadows.

6. Use a white or cream pencil to

heighten the drawing, using

hatches that follow the curves of

your face and features.

The colors she used were canary yellow and ultramarine blue

(near complements), magenta and dark green (near comple-

ments), and black and white (opposites).

Thu Ha's color is harmonious because it is balanced and col-

ors are repeated from area to area. (See Josef Albers's statement

in the margin of page 239.) The pale magenta of the lips is

repeated in the pink flower. The green of the leaves reappears in

the hair. The blue of the blouse reappears in the eyes and hat.

The black is used for the shadow-shapes, and the white heightens

the lights. And, finally, the yellow of the hair is a lighter value of

the ochre paper that forms the ground and middle value.

If you haven't yet tried a colored-pencil portrait on a colored

ground, I urge you to find a model or to draw a self-portrait, fol-

lowing the suggestions in the margin. Because the colored ground

so beautifully supplies the middle-value tones, you are sure to

enjoy this project. With the middle-value ground in place, it

almost seems that the drawing is half-complete before you start.

Recall that in Chapter Ten your rubbed-graphite ground sup-

plied the middle-value tones, the eraser provided the lights, and

the darkest dark of your pencil supplied the dark shadows. The

transition from that drawing to drawing in color on a colored

ground is a very short step.

Another project: An ugly corner as cityscape

You might also enjoy trying a cityscape similar to the student

drawing The Arrow Hotel in Figure 11-24. This drawing was the

result of an assignment to my students to "Go out and find a truly

ugly corner." (Regrettably, ugly corners are all too easy to find in

most of our cities.) Using the perceptual skills of seeing edges,

spaces, and relationships of angles and proportions, students were

directed to draw exactly what they saw—including signs, letter-

ing, everything—placing great emphasis on negative space. The

project was completed by following the directions for the

cityscape provided below.

I believe you'll agree that ugliness was transformed into

something approaching beauty in the student's drawing. This is

240 THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

another instance of the transformative power of the artist's way of

seeing. One of the great paradoxes of art is that subject matter is

not of prime importance in creating beauty.

Directions for the cityscape:

1. Find your corner, the uglier the better.

2. Sit in your car to do the drawing, or use a folding stool to sit

on the sidewalk.

3. You will need an 18" x 24" board to draw on, and an 18" x 24"

piece of ordinary white paper. Draw a format edge about an

inch in from the edges of the paper. Use a pencil to draw the

cityscape. A viewfinder and a transparent grid will help in

sighting angles and proportions.

4. Use negative space almost exclusively to construct the draw-

ing. All details, such as telephone lines, lettering, street signs,

and girders, are to be drawn in negative space. This is the key

to success in this drawing. (But that is true for almost every

bit of drawing that you do!) Remember that negative space,

clearly observed and drawn, reminds the viewer of that for

which we all long—unity, the most basic requirement of a

work of art.

5. When you have finished the drawing, return home and

choose a piece of 18" x 24" colored paper or colored card-

board. Transfer your on-site drawing to the colored paper,

using carbon paper or graphite transfer paper, available in art

supply stores. Be sure to transfer your format edge to the col-

ored ground.

6. If you want to try a simple complementary arrangement as

used in The Arrow Hotel, choose two colored pencils that

harmonize with your paper, one dark and one light. The Arrow

Hotel provides a satisfying color scheme because the color

is balanced: the yellow-green of the paper is balanced by

the dark, dull red-violet pencil, and the light tones are

supplied by the cream-colored pencil, which relates to the

yellow-green ground and acts as a near-complement to the

red-violet.

About cityscapes, American

abstract artist Stuart Davis said:

"I am an American, born in

Philadelphia of American stock.

I paint what I see in America.

"Some things that have made me

want to paint... skyscraper archi-

tecture, the brilliant color of gaso-

line stations; chain store fronts and

taxi-cabs; electric signs... Earl

Hines' hot piano and jazz music in

general."

— Stuart Davis, 1943

A half-serious caution: If you draw

in a public place, you will soon be

besieged by spectators wondering

what in the world you are draw-

ing—and why. I can't help you with

this problem.

One thing is certain: A lonely per-

son need only to start drawing in

public places to be lonely no more.

DRAWING ON THE BEAUTY OF COLOR 24I

Because most people believe they

prefer bright colors, the following is

a difficult concept to grasp:

Just as negative spaces are equally

important as objects, dull colors

(low-intensity colors) are equally

important as bright (high-inten-

sity) colors.

The simplest way to reduce the

intensity of a given hue is to add a

neutral gray or black. This

method, however, often seems to

drain color from a hue in the same

way that twilight dims and weakens

colors.

A second way is to mix a color with

some of its complementary hue.

This method seems to leave the color

unabated, and richly, strongly

dull—not weakly dull. Low-inten-

sity hues mixed this way greatly

assist in harmonizing color

schemes.

Believing that the second way is

preferable, my friend and col-

league Professor Don Dame, an

expert colorist, frequently refuses

to allow his students to even buy

black.

Expanding harmonious color

We have explored complementary color schemes in the exercises

above. Two additional ways of arranging harmonious color are

monochromatic schemes and analogous schemes.

Monochromatic color, meaning variations of a single hue, is

an interesting experiment with color. Choose a colored paper and

use all the pencils you have in hues related to that color. In her

Umbrella Still Life (Figure 11-17), student Laura Wright used varia-

tions on a theme of orange—the color orange in all its transfor-

mations, from dark brown to the pale orange of the paper.

Analogous color is an arrangement of hues close to one

another on the color wheel—red, orange, and yellow; blue, blue-

green, and green, for example. Student Ken Ludwig's drawing,

Large Stuffed Eagle (Figure, 11-18), is an analogous arrangement of

red, red-orange, yellow-orange, and pink chalk rubbed into white

paper. (Using pastel chalk is explained in the next section.) Ken

used pen and black India ink in short, hatched strokes to draw the

eagle. You might try this combination of a rubbed chalk ground

(which again supplies the middle value) and ink lines for a variety

of subjects—animals, birds, flowers—to practice analogous color.

Pressing on to a pastel world

Your next purchase should be a set of pastels, which are pure pig-

ments pressed into round or square chalks (sometimes called

"pastel crayons") using a minimum of binder. You can buy a basic

set of twelve chalks (ten hues plus black and white) or a larger set

of up to one hundred hues. But be assured that the small basic set

is sufficient for these first exercises.

I must warn you that pastels have some serious drawbacks.

They are quite soft and break easily. They rub off on your hands

and clothes, spread colored dust wafting through the air, and pro-

duce a drawing that is extremely fragile.

But there is a positive side. Pastels are almost pure pigment,

and the colors are lovely—as clear and brilliant as oil paints. Pas-

tels, in fact, are the drawing medium closest to painting. Pastel

drawings are often referred to as "pastel paintings."

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN

242

Because pastels come in a wide range of pure and mixed

hues, a student beginning in color can experience something very

close to painting without the difficulties encountered in mixing

paints on a palette, contending with turpentine, stretching canvas,

and dealing with other technical problems of painting.

For many reasons, therefore, pastels are an ideal medium to

provide a transitional midpoint between drawing and painting.

For an example of the proximity of pastels to painting, look at the

exquisite pastel paintings by the eighteenth-century French artist

Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin in Figures 11-9 and 11-10. Chardin,

often called the "artists' artist," has portrayed himself in his green

eyeshade and his wife in her demure headdress. Examine

Chardin's marvelous use of color, bold yet restrained. These two

drawings are masterpieces of portraiture and of pastel painting.

One of the main differences between exercises with colored

pencil and pastel drawing is in the quantity of applied color rela-

tive to the ground. Student Gary Berberet's Self-Portrait (Figure

11-16) illustrates expanded use of color to construct the entire

image.

For the exercise that follows, I will use as my model the pastel

drawing Head of a Young Girl, by the French painter Odilon Redon

(Figure 11-15). Redon's free use of pastel color in the negative

space of the drawing will inspire you to experiment with this

medium.

Redon's mystical and lyrical work spanned the end of the

nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth. His pastel

drawings have been linked to the writing of Poe, Baudelaire, and

Mallarme, and all are connected conceptually to Surrealism, a

period in early twentieth-century art that focused on dream sym-

bolism. The yellow lizard in Redon's drawing, juxtaposed to the

dreamlike serenity of the girl's head, is reminiscent of Surrealist

symbolism.

Before you begin, please read all of the instructions.

1. Find a model or a suitable subject. Arrange a light so that the

background is illuminated, providing a pale negative space

behind your model's head.

Surrealist artists were fascinated

by psychological meanings of col-

ors. Oddly, each hue has both a

positive and negative connotation

in most cultures. For example, con-

sider the following:

White: innocence and ghostliness

Black: restful strength and

depression

Yellow: nobility and treason

Red: ardent love and sin

Blue: truth and despondency

Purple: dignity and grief

Green: growth and jealousy

DRAWING ON THE BEAUTY OF COLOR

243

To correct a mistake in pastel,

begin by brushing off the wrong

marks with a paintbrush. Then use

a kneaded eraser (a soft malleable

eraser available in craft or art sup-

ply stores) to "lift" or blot the

color without rubbing. You can

even scrape the paper carefully

with a small knife, then blot again

and draw in your corrections.

2. Choose a piece of pastel paper in any soft color. Pastel paper

has a sharp "tooth" to grasp and hold the dry pigment. Redon

used a soft gray-blue paper.

3. Choose a medium-dark pastel crayon for the line drawing of

the head. Choose three harmonizing light pastels for the light

negative space behind the head.

4. Pose your model and draw the head in semi-profile—that is,

with the model turned very slightly off true profile view.

5. Calling on your five basic drawing skills, draw the head using

the dark pastel you have chosen. (Redon used a sepia pastel, a

dulled violet.) Using your imagination, or using objects in the

room, complete your composition by adding objects or parts

of objects. (Redon added part of a clock—a recurrent Surre-

alist symbol—and a falling lizard.)

6. Using your three pale pastels, work up the negative space sur-

rounding the head. Use crosshatching rather than filling the

area solidly, so that light and air are retained in your drawing.

A special point: Look at your three pale pastels and decide which

is the darkest (lowest) in value, which is in the middle, and which

is the lightest. Then use the lowest-value chalk for the first layer

of hatches, the middle for the next, and the lightest for the last

and final layer of hatches. This sequencing of colors from dark

first to light last is the sequencing required for most painting

mediums (with the exception of watercolor, which is usually

worked from light first to dark last). In working with pastels, the

dark-to-light sequencing helps to keep your colors clear and

fresh. Reversing this sequence can result in muddy color. This

point will help you to see why practice with pastels eases the

transition to painting.

7. Complete your drawing with bold colors of your choice. You

may prefer to harmonize your color by staying with comple-

ments or analogous hues, or you may prefer discordant hues

that are anchored in the composition by repeating or echoing

areas of each color. (In Redon's drawing, you will notice that

each of the intense hues is echoed in one or more additional

small areas.)

244

THE NEW DRAWING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN